Taikouvember 2025 - Nov. 7th - 9th

Agumon and Tentomon watched their partners.

Agumon had been excited to come to Koushiro's apartment with Taichi, well, Agumon would be happy to go anywhere with Taichi, but Koushiro's mother had amazing food!

Agumon reached down, picking up another cookie with their claws and putting it into their mouth, crumbs falling everywhere. "They're suppose to be studing", Tentomon said.

Agumon looked over at the bug Digimon, but their big green eyes were locked onto their partners.

Agumon looked back at them, Taichi and Koushiro were sitting at Koushiro's desk, a chair from the dinning room brought in for Taichi to sit on.

Tentomon was right, when Agumon asked Taichi why they were going to Koushiro's apartment, Taichi has said it was because he needed help with homework.

Taichi always seemed to need help with homework, many times when Agumon wanted to hang out Taichi had said he was busy with school work.

"Why do humans go to school?" Agumon asked. Digimon just learned thing as they went, Agumon knew tons of things when they first hatched out of their egg.

Like how they were waiting for someone, how they were hungry, and how amazing their partner would be.

Humans weren't like that, they came into the world knowing nothing, and went to places like middle school and high school to learn. "It's so they can get smarter", Tentomon said.

Tentomon and Agumon looked over at each other. "Koushiro says it's important humans go to school, so they can learn and grow", Tentomon explained.

Agumon hummed, but they didn't fully understand. If Taichi wanted to do it, however, than Agumon wasn't going to say anything about it.

Agumon looked back at Taichi and Koushiro. Koushrio was leaned over his laptop, a common sight for the red head.

Taichi was leaning towards Koushiro, so close that their sides were pressed against each other.

Taichi and Koushiro were talking to each other, and from what Agumon could hear, it didn't sound like it was about school.

When Agumon thought about it, Taichi hadn't even brought anything with him here.

This wasn't the first time Taichi has said he was going over to study at Koushiro's, but when Agumon really thought about it, Taichi never brought anything with him.

"Taichi didn't even bring homework with him", Agumon pointed out. "I noticed", Tentomon said. "Yet, Koushiro did not say anything about it", Tentomon added.

"He did not seem to care that Taichi didn't bring anything, he seemed happy that Taichi came over", Tentomon explained.

"Happy?" Agumon asked, grabbing another cookie.

"Koushiro seemed down before Taichi came over", Tentomon said, looking away from their partner and over at Agumon.

"He couldn't focus on his work, and kept looking out the window thinking", Tentomon explained.

Looking out the window? Taichi was the same. Agumon had asked Taichi what was wrong, but all Taichi said was that they were going to Koushiro's apartment.

"Taichi was the same", Agumon said, crumbs falling from their teeth as they spoke. Agumon looked back up at the two Chosen, they seemed happy now.

Koushiro was working away, the sounds of his fingers hitting the keys obvious.

Taichi was talking away, but every time he turned his head towards Koushiro, Agumon could see a smile on his face.

Koushiro didn't look away from his laptop often, but Agumon does remember seeing a smile on Koushiro's face when they and Taichi walked into his room.

"They seem happy now", Agumon said, eating another cookie. "Yes, I noticed Koushiro always seems happier then Taichi is with him", Tentomon said.

"You notice a lot, like how Koushiro always manages to notice things about the Digital World", Agumon said while eating his cookie.

Tentomon said nothing about what Agumon said. "Taichi always seems happy as well, when he's with Koushiro", Agumon said.

"They always seem happy when with each other", Agumon added. Agumon might not be the brightest of the Digimon, but they notice everything when it comes to their partner.

Like how energetic Taichi always is with Koushiro, and how smart he sounds when he's with Koushiro.

Agumon also notices that Taichi stares a lot at Koushiro, just watching him when Koushiro is too busy to notice. Agumon doesn't know why, but they do know Taichi seems to like Koushiro.

"They're the best of friends", Agumon said, voicing their thoughts

Tentomon thought, and Agumon was right.

Koushiro and Taichi did seem to like each other, and they made a good team.

They also seemed to just make each other happy. Tentomon remembers many times Koushiro seemed down, whether he was sad or angry or disappointed, Taichi always managed to make Koushiro feel better.

Even when they were younger, Tentomon remembers how Taichi seemed to fill him with courage, make him believe in his knowledge.

Tentomon remembers when they all thought Taichi had died, and how hard Koushiro worked because of that, but also the tears they could see in Koushiro's eyes.

Tentomon remembers how happy Koushiro was when Taichi came back, they always seemed to gravitate towards each other after that.

Even now that they were in high school, they still gravitated towards each other.

Maybe that was why Taichi had come here so suddenly, saying he needed help with homework when he only brought Agumon with him.

Maybe that was why Koushiro said nothing when Tentomon knew he noticed that Taichi had lied, letting him into his room and at his desk.

Maybe that was why the two Chosen seemed so much more happy than they were before, smiling and laughing together when moments before they were upset and unhappy.

Why they acted like this, Tentomon didn't know.

There were many things about the human world and humans Tentomon didn't know. Maybe it had something to do with feelings, but human emotions were confusing to Digimon.

Tentomon didn't know, maybe they could ask Koushiro when this was all over. All they did know, was that Koushiro and Taichi seemed to be happy together, and as long as their partner was happy Tentomon was as well.

Tentomon looked down at the plate, just to see Agumon grab the last cookie and put it into their mouth.

"You ate all of the cookies?" Tentomon asked, looking over at the dinosaur Digimon. Agumon was still eating the last cookie when they spoke, "their just so good", Agumon said.

Tentomon had to agree, Koushiro's mother's cooking was amazing, which is why Tentomon wanted some.

"You could have at least saved some for me", Tentomon said, turing their body so they were facing Agumon.

"But they're sooo gooood", Agumon said again, picking at the crumbs that were on the plate.

"Everything alright over there?" Tentomon and Agumon looked up, seeing that Taichi and Koushiro were now looking at them.

"Agumon ate all of the cookies", Tentomon said, a little sad that they didn't get to have any. "Agumon", Taichi said, turning his chair around.

"Taichi", Agumon said, dragging out their partners names. Agumon got off the floor, running over to Taichi to stand in front of them.

Taichi leaned down, picking Agumon up as he stood up from his chair. "How am I going to feed you if your an endless eating machine?" Taichi asked Agumon.

"Give me food?" Agumon asked back. Tentomon looked down at the plate, using one of their claws to poke at it and the crumbs left.

Tentomon heard Koushiro get up from his chair. "It is alright, Tentomon", Koushiromon said.

Tentomon felt Koushiro's hand on their head, and they looked up to meet their partners eyes.

"I'll have Mama back a batch of cookies just for you", Koushiro said. Koushiro reached out and picked up Tentomon, and Tentomon settled in their partners arms.

Tentomon turned around, so they were facing the same was as Koushiro, their claws over Koushiro's arms.

"Taichi", Agumon whined, looking up at Taichi. "I'm still hungry", Agumon said. "You are always hungry, Agumon", Koushiro said, walking over to Taichi.

"I'm hungry too", Taichi said, looking up at Koushiro. "How about we go for food?" Taichi asked. Tentomon looked up at Koushiro, seeing that he was looking over at his laptop.

Koushiro had told Tentomon that he was working on something important, he had declined to hang out with Tentomon before.

Koushiro looked back at Taichi, "okay, Taichi, where did you have in mind?" Koushiro asked.

Taichi turned Agumon around in his arms, starting to tell Koushiro about a new restaurant that had opened up. Tentomon wasn't really listening, they were looking at Agumon.

Agumon looked away from Taichi, meeting the bug Digimon's eyes. Agumon smiled, the best they could with their mouth full of sharp teeth.

Agumon's words still were making Tentomon think.

Tentomon didn't know Agumon had noticed, while the Digimon was very strong and loyal, they were a bit oblivious, kinda like their partner.

Neither Agumon nor Taichi seemed to notice Koushiro's smile when Taichi enters a room, or the light blush on his face every time Taichi asks him if he wants to hang out.

Agumon did see some things, and so did Tentomon.

They noticed things. They noticed how their partners acted with each other, they saw it.

When Kawashima Shiho had graduated from university with a degree in business administration, she had barely known about the concept of “Digimon”, the “Digital World” or anything related to it.

When she had joined a technology fair in hopes of actually finding a job in the field after graduation, she couldn’t have known that meeting Izumi Koushirou would open up a whole new reality to her.

Now – after a year of adjusting – she was organizing meetings as his company’s HR Manager. To convince clients of working with and sponsoring the creation of gadgets capable of tracking so called “Digital Monsters” or opening gates to entirely different worlds. Her very first job.

It seemed a little surreal sometimes – but as skeptical as she had been at first, she couldn’t have helped but feel fascinated by it. Not only by the concept of Digimon – especially the small robotic ladybug creature that was more than just a mascot, but actually a charismatic little employee in his own right. It was also the complete and utter determination of their company president, Izumi-shachou, who had convinced her to apply to Izumi Corporations.

Izumi-shachou was an interesting person overall.

And so were the people he surrounded himself with – which was something she had realized even more strongly recently, ever since their newest employer had joined the marketing team three months ago.

„Thank you for the good work!”, she said out loud to the second remaining person in the conference room while compiling all the physical documents that had been needed for the previous client meeting that had just ended.

“That’s no problem, really, I’ve done the cleanup in my former job as well!”, the person replied while picking up some teapots and cups – which caused her to chuckle.

“I was referring to the presentation, Yagami-san, not the cleaning.”

“Oh!”, he replied intelligibly, letting out a small laugh as well before continuing to pick up some plates. “Yeah, right, right. It was okay, I guess.”

Yagami Taichi-san was also a curious case – and Shiho understood why Hideki Takano-san, head of the marketing department, had decided to hire him. As a soon-to-be graduate in political science, he may only have been a part-time worker at the company so far. Plus, he hadn’t exactly majored in marketing or any similar subject whatsoever. At first glance, he seemed to be an absolute rookie, a former pachinko parlor part-timer, not exactly cut out to be part of a tech company. But his presence alone had already led to quite some improvements in regards to their client relationships.

Especially now that he had grown more accustomed to the job: Compared to his first weeks in the company – when he had worn a neat suit, including a sweater vest and a tie –, Yagami-san was already at a point where all the stiffness had vanished.

The attire he wore now was still appropriate – the shirt was neatly tugged into his trousers –, but the sleeves were rolled up and he had gotten rid of the tie as soon as the visitors had left.

He seemed way more comfortable at this point, more relaxed. Getting along easily with everyone, regardless of department or gender.

And that, as she assumed, wasn’t just linked to the time spent at this place.

“May I say, Izumi-shachou and you make a really good team.”

Hearing that, he turned around towards her – smiling bashfully and scratching his neck.

“Well… You have seen Takano-sensei’s… Research results by now, haven’t you?”

It was true that she hadn’t known about Yagami-san’s affiliation with their CEO up until she had read about Takano-san’s hiring notes. Two so called “Chosen Children” that had been involved in the “Digimon-related events” of Odaiba in 1999 and beyond. Even if the subject had barely made it into the news, even if sources about the humans involved had been very difficult to come by: Takano-san had managed to dig them all up. Unveiling the truth about how Yagami-san and Izumi-shachou had actually known each other since childhood. However…

She found herself chuckling again.

“I have. But that’s not how I noticed.”

He stopped in his tracks completely this time and blinked at her – obviously taken aback by her bluntness, as she usually tried to maintain her polite business attitude without letting her more excited nature shine through.

“What gave it away then?”, he asked just as bluntly now, looking like he felt caught in the act.

The answer wasn’t as easy to put into words – especially because she knew that, saying it out loud might overstep professional boundaries. But since his interest seemed to be piqued now, she got curious as well.

“This may not really be my place to judge, but… You’re acting differently when Izumi-shachou is around.”

The previous meeting had been the most striking example: Takano-san had asked Yagami-san to lead the presentation this time, trying to get him to get more comfortable to perform in a professional setting. Right before the meeting, he had looked incredibly nervous, eyebrows furrowed, shoulders tensed up, while browsing through his notes with hasty eyes. He really did resemble a newly adopted puppy, lost in a place he may have felt he didn’t even belong to…

But then, something peculiar happened; Izumi-shachou didn’t always attend their client meetings in person, as he was mostly in front of his desk, organizing, coordinating, delegating – but this time, he had insisted on presenting the numbers linked to their newest goggle model himself. And as soon as he stood next to Yagami-san – a notable height-difference between them, as Shiho had only then noticed for the first time –, the tension in him seemed to have vanished completely.

With a straightened posture, a shimmering glimmer in his eyes, oozing with confidence and self-assurance, he talked about the potential impact on network stability and social security the distortion tracking goggles may provide in collaboration with Izumi Corporations infrastructure. A completely different person, a youthful burst of energy. Not only that – both Izumi-shachou and Yagami-san almost naturally took turns in explaining the benefits of the company’s invention, shockingly in sync. As if they had practiced – which was virtually impossible, since Takano-san had only entrusted Yagami-san with the task this morning.

It had been a fascinating sight.

“You two gave quite the impressive speech, which is not to be taken for granted after such a short amount of time here, Yagami-san.”

“Huh… I mean… I think it’s just a natural thing for us to get through tough situations together”, Yagami-san mused, visibly contemplating. Again, there was a fondness in his eyes – and a warmth in his words as well: “You know, he’s always been good at giving directions and… I guess that gave me a bit of a boost.”

In a way, she related to that.

Despite being older than him, Shiho had looked up to Izumi-shachou from the start, ever since he had been the one approaching her at the fair; getting a chance by such a young entrepreneur, she considered herself lucky as a “newbie”. She thought of Izumi-shachou as a friendly and polite person – but there was also an aura of detachment surrounding him. As she had mused before, he was a rather interesting case of a person, absolutely brilliant, hard-working and goal-oriented. But through all their interactions, she had always sensed a certain distance about him as well, which, assumably, came naturally with his more stoic, serious demeanour. Not that he wasn’t charismatic himself – Chosen Child or not, he probably wouldn’t have been able to be convincing about his vision otherwise, starting a company specializing in such an outlandish field as “Digital World technology” in the first place.

And she herself probably also wouldn’t have felt drawn to his concepts the way she had.

However, she couldn’t help but wonder if the rest of the company employees felt that barrier too. A mask, a corporate smile, that made him seem hard to approach if he wasn’t the one initiating it on his own terms. He appeared to be someone who had a hard time getting along with people – which had been her impression for the longest time.

Until Yagami-san had entered the picture. In fact, their boss had changed recently as well. At least to some degree. And in certain circumstances.

She hadn’t intended to eavesdrop – but when she had wanted to hand in some of the performance reports into Izumi-shachou’s office the other day, she had seen them. Hunching over the desk, eerily close – not just physically, as Yagami-san’s hand was basically glued to their superior’s back, who, in return, was unusually chatty and giddy. Loose, even. Granted, they had been by themselves, with no one else around but Tento-san, the ladybug Digimon. But the tone, the body language, the entire dynamic was nothing she had ever expected to witness there.

“You’re unbelievable, Taichi-san… But, I gotta give it to you… That idea is so insane that it might actually work!”

“I know, right?!”

A whole new side – and it felt almost forbidden to have pried into them like that…

“I know all this, all the Digimon related stuff, doesn’t make much sense to you”, Yagami-san confessed, still seeming somewhat embarrassed – even though Shiho was sure he hadn’t noticed her back then. “Or… Literally anyone else, I was just thinking out loud. Sorry about that.”

“Oh no, not at all! Like I said, it’s not my place to comment, but I think it’s a wonderful thing to be able to support each other like that.”

She didn’t know much about their past, about how their relationship had been prior to them becoming employer and employee. If there had been any fall-outs or changes or anything that had caused them to be temporarily ripped apart – since she was well aware of the fact that Izumi-shachou had not been aware of Yagami-san’s application and that he hadn’t been hired based on their affiliation, based on Takano-san’s notes. But what she could tell was – they seemed to give each other security and comfort. Something that, possibly, only childhood friends could provide to each other. In a way, it really felt like them ending up together at this place had been meant to be.

“Support, huh? Yeah, that pretty much hits the nail on the head.”

The way his eyes were lighting up once more justified her in having taken on this job. Izumi-shachou was not only an interesting and admirable person to her – he seemed to be much more important to Yagami-san than she had anticipated.